Fighting continues in Syria as UN prepares for sanctions

July 17, 2012: Syrian rebels fired grenades at tanks and troops while regime armour shelled Damascus neighborhoods on Monday, sending terrified families fleeing. It was the most sustained and widespread fighting in the capital since the start of the uprising 16 months ago.

The continued conflict comes as the United Nations Security Council prepares to vote on Wednesday on a Western-backed resolution that threatens Syrian authorities with sanctions if they do not stop using heavy weapons in towns, despite a declaration by Russia that it will block the move. Russia is accusing Western powers of using "blackmail" to get approval for United Nations Security Council sanctions against Syria.

Ahead of his talks with UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said it was "unrealistic" for Western powers to expect Moscow to convince Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down.

Meanwhile, Syrian politician Nawaf Fares, the ex-ambassador to Iraq, who recently defected to the opposition, told the BBC the regime will not hesitate to use chemical weapons if it needs to.

Syria’s violence has grown increasingly bloody and chaotic in recent months as the uprising has grown from being a peaceful protest movement seeking political change into an armed insurgency seeking to topple the regime by force. Anti-regime activists say more than 17,000 people have been killed.